Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next review: presenting the pop queen at her most unashamedly honest

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In December, Ariana Grande pledged that she would no longer be held to the industry standards of the pop queens that have come before her, abandoning the release patterns, price points and US radio rules set in stone when she was barely a foetus. “It’s just like, bruh, I just want to f------ talk to my fans and sing and write music and drop it the way these boys do,” she told Billboard. “Why do they get to make records like that and I don’t? So I do and I did and I am.”

Which explains why Thank U, Next – her fifth and most assured album – is arriving less than six months after last August’s Sweetener. It's the result of a recent surge in creativity, a high-profile breakup with comedian Pete Davidson...

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